Rectal



(No Model.)

H. W. HAMILTON.

RBGTAL SPEGULUM.

INVENTOR Patented Se WITNESSES 1 ATTORN EY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY \V. HAMILTON, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

RECTAL SPECULUM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 348,843, dated September 7, 1886.

Application filed July 13, 1995. Serial No. ]7l,43(i. (No model.)

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY W. HAMILTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Hampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Rectal Specula, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in rectal specula, the object being to provide, in this class of instruments, various improvements in the construction of the case and the gate thereof, and in the details of their connecting parts, whereby greater convenience and effectiveness are securedin their manipulation, all as hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a speculum constructed according to my' invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the gate, showing the principal part of the handle broken off. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the nut and its screw. Fig. 5 illustrates a modified construction of the nut and the end of the gate. Fig. 6 illustrates a modified construction of the forward end of the case and of the gate shown in Fig. 5, together with the nut shown in the latter figure, said portions of the case, of the gate, and said nut being there shown in section and in operative relation. Fig. 7 illustrates a modified form of opening in the gate, the view of the latter there shown being a side elevation with a part of the handle broken away.

In the drawings, a is the case of the speculn in, having thereon the handles, and provided with the slot g ext-ending nearly the whole length thereof,and made widest at the end nearest the point or forward end. The case is of tapering tubular form, made from metal, hard rubber, or other suitable material, and is provided with the cone-shaped end having a central perforation. through which passes the screw (I, which constitutes the apex of the cone and the end of the case. The edge of that portion of the case directly at the widest end of the slot g; is beveled or rounded, as shown at 3, Fig. 2, in order to remove all obstructions to the easy passage of ulcerated or healthy parts over said rounded part 3 when the instrument is being used, and the purpose in making the slot y wider as it approaches the point of the instrument is to cause it to act more freely on any parts which may pr0- ject into the slot as the instrument is withdrawn from the patient and facilitate their painless exit therefrom.

A series of graduation-marks is provided on the case between its two ends, as shown, and also around on the outer surface of its rear end. By the aid of said two series of graduatioirmarks on the speculum means are afforded for noting its penetration and rotary position when it has brought to view a certain diseased spot in the patient, and thereby the instrument can be reapplied in substantially the same position for the purpose of a subsequent examination of the same spot. A screw, 0, passes through the case near its rear end and enters a slot or depression, 0, in the gate 6, said screw serving to secure the gate in a fixed position in the case a, if need be, and to secure said gate in the case, but (in conjunction with said slot 0) allowing free rotation of the gate, thereby providing means for dispensing with the screw (1, when the conical end of the case is made as shown in Fig. (3, as hereinafter described.

The gate I) is of a like metallic or other construction to the case it of tapering tubular form, corresponding to the interior of case a, and extending from a little beyond the rear end of the latter and within it to the inner end of the cone-shaped point or end f of the case. The said gate is provided with a slotlike opening in its side of a length corresponding to that of the slot 2 in the case a; but said opening in the gate is of varying width and is produced by providing regular or irregular offsets and 5 beyond the line 6 on or in one edge of the slot, as shown clearly in Figs. 2 and 3, or by forming a slot, 7, of tapering form, leaving both edges unbroken, as shown in Fig. 7. The smaller orinner end of the gate, I), is perforated, as shown in Fig. 3, and a socket is formed therein, as shown, in which the end of the nut centers, the central projection, e, on said end passing through the said perforation in the end of the gate and being tapped to receive the screw d. The end of the said projection e on the nut rest against theiuner end of the pointf of the case leaving room enough between the latter and the nut to permit the gate to turn freely, operated by its handle z The nut 6 may have one or more of its sides inclined relative to its axis, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4-, 5, and 6, thereby providing a lightreflecting surface when properly polished on one or on all sides, to serve as a mirror for facilitating the examinations made by means of the instrument, and either of said nuts may be secured in the case and gate by the means shown in Fig. 2 or by those shown in Fig. 6. Vhen the latter-named means are employed, the solid conical point f is employed for'thc case, and the end of the gate is made with a socket in the outside instead of in the inside ofits end, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and the nut is made as indicated at n in said figuros that is to say, with a collar, '0, thereon which fits the socket in the end of the gate. The latter in this construction, in which the screw (1 is omitted, is held in the case a by the screw 0, as above described, the flat end of the nut being thereby held against the inner end of the conical pointf.

The nut in Fig. 6 may, if desired, be fixed to the gate 1). i

In the abovedescribed construction the parts are easily detached from each other for cleaning and cxaminatiomand afterward easily reassembled.

To facilitate thcmovement ofthe instrument from hemorrhoidal tumors, which during an examination of the latter have entered the slot Y, the edge of the slot at 3, Fig. 2, is rounded, as aforesaid, and the edge of that part of the small end of the gate 0, forming the sides of the said socket in which the end of the nut c fits, lies between said part 3 and the nut, and is also suitably smoothed.

In addition to the above-named means for assisting the operator in easily drawing the instrument away from said tumors, the nut 0, whether it presents an inclined side or the side of a cone, furnishes such an incline to direct the tumor outward when brought against it as is effective, and the tumor slides easily over the nut, the edge of said socket, and the beveled edge 3 without any inconvenience.

The operation of the instrument will be easily understood by those skilled in the art to which it pertains. Having bcenplaeed for the examination of a patient, directed by the handles thereon, (the gate 1) having first been turned to the left to close the slot y,) the instrument is held by the handle a, while the gate is, by the handle .2, slowly turned to the right, first opening by degrees the lower end of the slot 3/, by the movement of the edge of the offset 5 from one edge of said slot until an opening is shown in the latter of the length and width of said offset, and so on, each of said olfsets operating in like manner in turn until such openings in slot y have been produced as serve to admit in asuitable manner any tumors that may exist, so that they may be examined and treated.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is- 1. In a tubular speculum, the case thereof having a slot in its side, a rotatable internal gate of tubular form having a slot-like opening in its side, a nut of cone shape located in the end of said gate, and means, substantially as described, for securing said gate in the case, all combined and operating substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with the case having the slot in its side, the rotatable tubular gate fitting in said case and having a slot-like opening in its side of varying width, the nut c, iitting in the end of the gate and having an inclined side, and the screw 11, passing through the end of the case and engaging with said nut, substantially as set forth.

3. A tubular speculum having on the snrface of its case a series of graduation-marks between its ends and a second series thereof around its rear end in a line transverse to said first-named series, substantially as set forth.

J. D. GARFIELD, H. A. CHAPIN. 

